Back At It

After more than a year away (please forgive me), I am trying to get back into the hobby swing of things.  So for now, here are a few things I am sporadically working on:

Hopefully I will be able to devote a little more time to painting and updating this blog.

Product Review: Forgeworld Imperial Fist Decals

The Imperial Fist decals I ordered from Forgeworld finally showed up on my doorstep the other day.

All in all, it is a pretty good sheet. There were a few printing glitches here and there, but it is a welcome addition for the squad markings because my freehand leaves much to be desired.



Starting off with the decals and the must have Micro Sol/Micro Set duo:



After applying Micro Set to the shoulder pad, the decal is dipped into the Micro Set bottle. It only takes about 30 seconds for the decal to become separated from the backing and is pushed onto the model with a brush.




And the tactical arrow:



After blotting dry with a tissue, Micro Sol is then brushed on the decals and left to sit overnight.

You can see here the difference between the Forgeworld decal and the standard decal that comes in Space Marine boxes.




I'm happy to have sheet and I recommend it to any Imperial Fist painter.

Addicted to OOP

I love scouring ebay for out of production marines.

I try not to pay more than five or six dollars for them, but I think they add a little character to the army.



This Veteran Sergeant is finished off with shoulder pad and power fist from the bits packs GW released a few months ago.



Inspiration for this guy blatantly stolen from the great Ron at From the Warp.

Hoping to get some color on these guys this weekend.

Painting Imperial Fists, Part 2: Mid-coat and Some Detail

A two-part feature has evolved into a three-part so I hope you will bear with me. Check out part 1 here.

As we continue, we have applied the mid-coat on top of a base of Iyanden Darksun with a Gryphonne Sepia.



The mid-coat consists of a 1-1 ratio of Iyanden Darksun and Golden Yellow. Be sure to leave a little of the base-coat showing in the armor recesses and places that need to be heavily shaded.

The chest eagle is lightly highlighted with P3 Khador Red Base and washed with Baal Red.



I like to premix the mid coat batch so I can get consistent results over multiple figures. Empty dropper bottles are great for mixing up custom mixes or washes.




Next, the helmet lenses were tackled by first blocking them out with Skull White and base of Dark Angels Green. Hit the front corners with a spot of Snot Green.



Finish off the lens with a small spot of Skull White in the back corners. As this zoomed shot can show you, my sloppy painting aside, a little cheat I used to clean up the area around the eye.

A Sakura Pigma Micron Pen, Brown size 005, was used to shade the spot under the lens to clean up any stray white or green paint. It was also used on the shoulder pauldron to give a quick shade on the rim between the black and yellow. The brown ink is quite close to the color of Gryphonne Sepia wash but a little more opaque. If I was a little neater it would look spectacular but from afar the result is adequate.



The backpack is completed in the same fashion as the armor and the bolter is dry fit in place. the bolter is based in Chainmail and hit with a Badab wash. Edge the bolter casing with Adeptus Battlegrey and another wash of Badab.

Next up, I will attempt to highlight the armor without totally ruining the model.

Painting Imperial Fists, Part 1: Base-coat and Wash

After a very long hiatus, I have returned to the 40K blog world. I hope not too many of you forgot about me.

Over the next two posts I am going to walk through how I do Imperial Fists. Hopefully it will give a few people some inspiration to tackle painting the dreaded yellow or to share how they do their fists.

im not the neatest painter nor the most talented but here goes:



Start with an even Iyanden Darksun from the Citadel Foundation range base-coat. It may look a little rough in places but that will be smoothed out in the next step.



Apply a liberal coat of Gryphonne Sepia from the Citadel Wash range and let dry. I like to tilt the model backwards to let the wash seep in to the crevices, dry, and then hit the back of the model and tilt dry again. Next, hit it with another liberal coat of wash.

A word on washes. I have gotten into the habit of adding a drop of Formula P3 mixing medium or Vallejo Model Color matt medium to the wash before applying. It keeps the pigment intact and improves the flow of the wash so it hits those seams in the armor without pooling on the flat parts too much. I used the P3 in this case.



Now, hit the chest eagle with P3 Khador Red Base. This gives a nice bright red without too much trouble.



Next, I apply two coats of Citadel Badab Black wash to the eagle. This tones the red way down and adds nice shadow to the wings and skull on the chest. I've also applied Citadel Chainmail to the armor joints, tubes and arm badge which was also then washed with Badab Black. I may have to apply another coat of wash as they are still a little to bright. I'm sure I could have goten a bit grimier with Boltgun Metal, but I tend to like the results of Chainmail with a wash.

The base was drybrushed first with Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey and then again with Astronomican Grey.

Well, thats all for the base of the miniature. Stay tuned for part two as we wrap it all up.

Painting Yellow

My previous method of painting yellow with Iyanden Darksun over black undercoat has left me wanting a little more.

In leafing through some old White Dwarfs, I came across a masterclass for painting a Bad Moons Warboss in Issue WD350(US) (also available here, but you need to log in).

Basically it calls for an basecoat of Tausept Ochre:


A wash of Gryphone Sepia in the receses:



Then a midcoat of Iyanden Darksun+Golden Yellow (a 1 to 1 mix):



Highlights are an equal parts Iyanden Darksun+Golden Yellow+Skull White. I actually added more white as my mixture was a little watery after adding a drop of water.

Here is the result on a non-test model:






So there you have it, I am pretty pleased with this method and the results give the models a little more depth and character.

The White Dwarf article also gives a great little snippet on painting battle damage that I used to cover up a small divit from clipping the model from the sprue.



And here is a poor picture of my attempt on the shoulder pauldron:

Chaplain Work

Was able to steal a few moments to get some work done on my Chaplain today. Ive got a faint highlight going, but need to work on it some more. I am really pleased with how the skull helm has turned out.



Got a few squad members starting to shape up:

Disaster!

After sitting in a simple green bath for a day and a half, the rhino emerged in not so great a condition. The paint refused to come off of the plastic of the rhino, while the primer came straight off for the most part of the Forgeworld extra armor.

So I decided to stick it in the freezer to loosen the glue to remove the forgeworld parts. Of course several pieces shattered...



The rhino is a loss, but the forgeworld parts may be salvageable...we will have to see.

On a better note, I finished up the sergeant.

Salvage Work

I pulled an old Rhino out of the Bitz pile/box to transport one of my tactical squads.



It definitely will need a date with a Simple Green bath, as there is something funky with the top half of it.



Ill let it sit all day tomorrow, and get it primed and basecoated this weekend.



As you can see, it is outfitted with extra armor from forgeworld and will include a pintle mounted storm bolter.

Almost There and P3 Paints

Getting there slowly. In between football and normal weekend activities I got the dread to a point where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I am a very slow painter.







I am very pleased how the green targeting lenses came out.

There is some small detail work to be done to be sure, but I'll be able to paint the rim of the base and varnish it tomorrow hopefully.

I was able to get my hands on some of Privateer Press's P3 formula paints.



The reds seem like they may make a good system for the Space Hulk Terminators.

Does anyone have any experience with the paints? Tips? Testimonials?

Sarcophagus Work

After a long day, I was able to steal some minutes to get some work done on the Dread's sarcophagus.

It's a bit blown out from the flash here, but the wings do have more definition than that, but a few very thin washes of Asurmen should help pick out the detail on the wings a bit better.

I always have a hard time with white, it either looks too chalky or too runny. This came out okay, but could be a bit tidier.

I do like the the white on the black background though.

365 Points Progress

I've made some headway on the Dread with its many coats of yellow:



I am stuck at a point on what the sarcophagus should look like. I am thinking keeping the background black and doing the eagle, skull and scroll in white. Or filling in the back with yellow and doing the wings and skull in red.

What say you?



Here's some work on the sergeant.

Overall its taking a little longer than I am anticipating, but hopefully I can get these156 pts out of 365 pts ready by wednesday.

365 Points

Ive decided to tackle the Tale of Four Gamers with 365 points first. That includes the Dreadnought and one Tactical Squad.

First up, the Dreadnought:



Got it based and primed, and a quick drybrush of Boltgun on the metal parts. Added a few items; a Forgeworld purity seal and an Imperial Fist icon from the GW Imperial Fist Conversion Pack .

This is, of course, the ubiquitous Black Reach Dread.

Next, a sergeant from the tactical squad:



This, I believe, is a GamesDay limited edition, with a simple arm swap. Base coated, drybrushed and based.

I've decided to stick with Imperial Fists, but went a different direction with the yellow, using Iyanden Darksun rather than the Tamiya Camel Yellow spray.

I am probably going to make them part of the Imperial Fist's 5th company with the black rimed shoulder pauldrons.

Chaos, Undecided

My painting table is in shambles. Too much going on.



I thought my Imperial Fist veterans were coming along okay. Spraying them entirely yellow gets to be a pain having to pick out all the metals first in black, and then hit with a drybrush of boltgun. Same with the white with a base coat of Shadow Grey and then many coats of Skull White. But even with a sepia wash, the yellow just doesn't get a good enough shadow in the transition spaces.



I pulled out some Crimson Fists I had been working on before getting inspired by yellow.



They get better looking every time I look at them.

Anyway, my fate is up to you. What say you; interwebs, Imperial or Crimson Fists? I am in your hands.



Another shot of a War of The Ring army of the dead.

Combo Plasma Work

Got some work done on the coils on the plasma half of the combo bolter.



Got a sepia wash over the yellow base last night. Hit them with a quick shot of Testors Dullcote to take some of the shine off.